How Carpet Cleanliness Relates to our Health

If you live in a home with carpets, doesn’t it feel wonderful when a professional carpet cleaning services arrives, leaving your floors as clean as the day they were fitted? Knowing that your home is free of bacteria instills a certain confidence, since you can comfortably walk, lie, or rest on surfaces without fearing illness. In this post, we discuss a few reasons why regular cleaning, and relying on a
professional cleaning service when possible, are key.
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People With Clean Carpet are Happier

Researchers at Indiana University tracked almost 1000 people with a high risk for heart disease, discovering that those who lived in a tidy, cleaner house were more physically active, and generally healthier.

Researchers note that a tidy home involves teamwork (i.e. when more than one person lives in a home, it is a sign that everyone is investing work in the home), knowing how to break cleaning tasks into chunks, and putting things away immediately (by having a strict storage or filing system).

Common Germs in Carpet can Cause Disease

NSF International, an organization dedicated to protecting and improving global health, conducted a study in which they swabbed 30 surfaces in 22 homes to ascertain levels of yeast, mold, coliform bacteria, staph, etc.

Some of the dirtiest areas they found included stove knobs, faucet handles, and kitchen counters (which harbored coliform bacteria, molds and yeasts).

Dirty carpets also house pollutants and grime that can cause disease, with research by Dr. Philip Tierno (microbiologist and author of The Secret Life of Germs) showing that neglected carpets have about 200,000 bacteria per square inch (more than the average toilet).

Common germs found in unclean homes include staph (often brought home through gym bags, shoes, etc.), which can cause MRSA: campylobacter (which can cause stomach problems), and norovirus (which causes similar symptoms to food poisoning).

The Effect of Poor Indoor Air Quality

In addition to the germs found on surfaces, poor indoor air quality can
also cause disease.

Research indicates that the air quality inside homes can actually contain more toxins than the air outside. Causes of pollution include personal care spray items, paraffin candles, harsh cleaning products containing bleach and other ingredients, formaldehyde emanating from furniture, etc. Common health effects caused by unhealthy indoor air include irritated eyes, an itchy throat, headache, and respiratory problems.

Why is Steam Cleaning Carpet Ideal?

Steam cleaning is an excellent solution for keeping carpets and surfaces clean, especially when you have little children and pets in the home (since kids are still building their immunity, and pets are often in close contact with floors and other low surfaces), since they do not require chemicals, they kill germs, and they eliminate allergens such as dust mites.

To enjoy optimal health at home, try to establish a regular cleaning routine, rely on steam cleaning, install a good HEPA filter to enhance indoor air quality and ensure you have regular professional carpet cleaning, so you know the surface you walk on is always clean.